Scraper bucket with relatively movable front and rear sections



A. G. REYNOLDS SCRAP-ER BUCKET WITH RELATIVELY MOVABLE FRONT Feb. 17, 1910 AND REAR SECTIONS Filed Sept. 28, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 esz/l AaronG. Reyna/a;

INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY? Feb. 17, 1970 A. G. REYNOLDS I 3,495,344-

SCRAPER BUCKET WITH RELATIVELY MOVABLE FRONT AND REAR SECTIONS FiledSept. '28, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Act/"027 6. Reyna/d5 INVEA TOR.

BY j w ATTO/F/VE VJ United States Patent 3,495,344 SCRAPER BUCKET WITHRELATIVELY MOVABLE FRONT AND REAR SECTIONS Aaron G. Reynolds, McAllen,Tex., assignor to Reynolds Research & Manufacturing Corp., McAllen, Tex.Filed Sept. 28, 1966, Ser. No. 582,582 Int. Cl. E02f 3/64 US. Cl. 371292 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An earth moving scraper having aframe movable over the ground level and a bucket carried by the frame.The bucket includes a front section having side walls defining anopening into the front end of the bucket, and a rear section having abottom wall and sidewalls parallel to the side walls of the frontsection. A means is provided for swinging the rear bucket sectionbetween a generally horizontal position in which it forms a rearwardextension of the front section so as to contain earth, and an inclineddumping position in which its side walls are at least partiallytelescoped with;'the side walls of the front section. The front edges ofthe side walls of the rear section aregenerally parallel and closelyadjacent the rear edges of the side walls of the front section in thegenerally horizontal position of the rear section. Upon swinging of therear section to its dumping position, its front edges move over and in apath closely adjacent the side walls of the front bucket section, andthere are lugs spaced along these edges so as to overlap the rear,

This invention relates generally to earth moving scrapers; and, moreparticularly, to improvements in bucket type scrapers in which thebucket may be moved relative to its supportng friame between earthcontaining and dumping positions.

In the scraper shown in Engler Patent No. 2,528,046, the entire bucketis swingable about an axis transverse to the frame in moving between anessentially horizontal position for containing earth therein and aforwardly inclined position for dumping the earth from its open frontend. In a third, slightly inclined position, a blade along the frontedge of the bucket is lowered beneath ground level so as to scrape earthinto the open end of such bucket upon forward movement of the frame.

In an improved version of this scraper, the capacity of the bucket isincreased by an additional open-ended section comprising side wallsfixedly carried by the frame and generally parallel to the side walls ofthe swingable section behind it so as to form a forward continuationthereof. In this improved scraper, the side walls of the rear sectionare at least partially telescoped with respect to the side walls of thefront section upon swinging to dumping position.

Obviously, in order to contain the earth, the side walls of the frontand rear bucket sections move in paths closely adjacent one another inswinging between alternate positions of the bucket. More particularly,the end edges of adjacent ends of the side walls of the two sectionsoverlap to an extent sufiicient to insure that they do not obstruct oneanother, even after repeated wear on the various parts of the scraper.

One serious problem which has resulted from this construction is thetendency for relatively large particles, such as gravel, to becomewedged between the overlapping end edges of the bucket sections. Thus,as the rear bucket section is swung from extended into telescopingrelation with respect to the front section, these particles PatentedFeb. 17, 1970 are carried with it over the side walls of the frontsection. In this case, the side walls of the bucket section may bedistorted to such an extent as to render the scraper unuseable.

An object of this invention is to provide a scraper of this type inwhich the bucket is of such construction as to minimize the possibilityof jamming these particles between the side walls of its relativelymovable sections, while at the same time continuing to insure that theyare guided for movement in their respective paths and not caused toobstruct one another.

In the drawings where there is shown, by way of illustration, oneembodiment of the invention:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a side of an earth moving scraperhaving relatively movable bucket sections constructed in accordance withthe present invention, and ShOWillg the bucket sections in scrapingposition wherein the rear section is slightly inclined with respect tothe front section to dispose its blade below ground level;

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1, but showing the bucket sections insolid lines in extended position so as to contain earth therein duringtransport of the scraper, and in broken lines-with the rear bucketsection swung upwardly to inclined position for dumping earth therefrom;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the mid-portion of the scraper showing thebucket sections in extended position with respect to one another;

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of adjacent ends of the bucketsections, upon an enlarged scale and in the extended position thereof;and

FIG. 5 is another longiudinal sectional view of the bucket sections,similar to FIG. 4, but with the rear section swung upwardly to thedumping position.

With reference now to the details of the above-dc scribed drawings, andparticularly to FIGS. 1 and 2 thereof, the overall scraper, which isindicated in its entirety by reference character 10, is similar in manyrespects to the construction and operation of the scraper shown anddescribed in the aforementioned Engler Patent No. 2,528,046. Thus, itcomprises a bucket 11 carried by and within the rectangular main body ofaframe 12 made up of hingedly connected side frame members 13 and 14 andfront and rear frame members 15 and 16 interconnecting the side framemembers 13 and 14, respectively. The rear portion of the main body ofthe frame is supported by one or more wheels 12B, and the front portionthereof is supported by a draft bar 12A extending forwardly from amid-portion of the frame member 15 for connection to a tractor or othervehicle adapted to pull the frame forwardly from right to left over theground level G.

The bucket 11 includes a rear section 17 pivotally supported by means ofpins 18 carried in opposite side frame members 13. The bucket section 17is also supported from the frame by means of piston and cylinder typeactuators 19, each of which is pivotally connected by pins 20A and 20Bbetween the bucket section 17 and a side frame member 14. Moreparticularly, the actuators are arranged to swing the bucket sectionabout the transverse axes of pins 18 so as to move it between earthcontaining, dumping and scraping positions upon extension and retractionthereof, as will be described hereinafter.

As described in the Engler patent, the side frame members 13 and 14 arehingedly connected together by means of pins 21 and are provided withstops (not shown) which limit their swinging relative to one another inone direction beyond that shown when the frame is in the transportposition of FIG. 2. That is, the frame member 14 can swing no further ina clockwise direction with respect to the frame member 13. On the otherhand, frame member 14 can swing in a counterclockwise direction from itsposition of FIG. 2 to its position of FIG.1, so as to in effect breakthe hinge between the side frame members and thereby lower the blade 22along the front end of bucket section 17 from a position raised aboveground level G to a position below the ground level, as shown in FIG. 1.More particularly, this breaking of the hinge between the side framemembers 13 and 14 is initiated by retraction of the actuators 19 fromthe solid line position of FIG. 2 to the position of FIG. 1. The sideframe members are urged to the position of FIG. 2 in which their stopsare engaged by means of coil springs 23 connecting the side framemembers in the manner shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

As also described in the Engler patent, and as will be apparent from thedrawings, the bucket section 17 has an open front end above the blade 22and between its longitudinally extending side walls 17A. It also has abottom wall 17B extending laterally between the side walls 17A andrearwardly from the blade 22 to a rear wall disposed across its rearend. In this manner, the bucket section 17 is adapted to receive earththrough its open end as the scraper is moved forwardly from right toleft with the blade 22 lowered to the position shown in FIG. 1. Then,upon extension of the actuators so as to raise the bucket sections tothe extended position shown in solid lines in FIG. 2, it is adapted tocontain earth therein for transport to a desired place for dumping.

In this latter connection, and as illustrated by the broken lines ofFIG. 2, further extension of the actuators 19 from their solid lineposition to their broken line position shown in FIG. 2 will swing thebucket section 17 upwardly and forwardly about the axes of pins 18. Inthis position, of course, earth contained in the bucket will be dumpedthrough its open end past the scraping blade 22.

In accordance with the above-described improved version of this scraper,the bucket 17 includes a front section 24 comprising side walls 24Acarried by the scraper frame 12. More particularly, the side walls ofsection 24 extend longitudinally and parallel to the side walls 17A ofrear bucket sections 17 and are of substantially the same height as theside walls of the rear bucket section so as to form a forwardcontinuation thereof. As previously described, this construction greatlyincreased the capacity of the scraper 11.

The front bucket section 24 is open-ended so as to receive earththerethrough into the open front end of bucket section 17. Moreparticularly, the front end of bucket section 24 intermediate frontframe member 15 and blade 22 may be closed, if desired, by means of agate construction 25. The gate shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 in its raisedposition so as to open the front end of gate section 24 during thescraping operation illustrated in FIG. 1 and the dumping operationillustrated by broken lines in FIG. 2. Normally, in the earth-containingposition, the gate construction 25 would be lowered so as to close thefront end of bucket section 24, as shown in FIG. 3.

As best illustrated in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5, the side walls 17A of the rearbucket sections are disposed for swinging in paths closely adjacent theside walls 24A of the front bucket section. Upon swinging of the reargate section 17 upwardly and forwardly about pins 18, the side walls 17Aare caused to at least partially telescope over the side walls 24A ofbucket section 24, as best shown in FIG. 5. As previously described, andas will be understood from the foregoing, when the front edges of theside walls 17A overlapped the rear edges of the side walls 24A to anyappreciable extent in the extended positions of the bucket sections,there was a tendency to trap large particles between them. On the otherhand, it was thought necessary to provide such overlapping edge portionsin order to prevent the bucket sections from obstructing one anotherupon wear and repeated operation of the bucket. I

In accordance with the novel aspects of the invention, however, theseedges of the bucket sections are disposed parallel and closely adjacentto one another. Thus, as shown in FIG. 4, they may be in substantiallateral alignment, or alternatively, they may be actually spaced fromone another a small amount, or overlapped to such a small extent thatthey would not tend to trap large particles there/between.

Thus, these parallel edges at adjacent ends of the bucket sections alsoinclude parts 26 in the form of lugs spaced lengthwise of their edgesand mounted on one such edge for overlapping the other in the extendedposition of the bucket sections shown in FIG. 4. In the preferredembodiment of the invention shown in the drawings, these lugs 26 extendforwardly from the front edges of side walls 17A so as to overlap withthe rear edges of side walls 24A. Obviously, the lugs could instead becarried upon the rear edges of side walls 24A for overlapping the frontedges of side walls 17A. Still further, one or more lugs 26 may becarried by the side walls of the rear bucket section and the remaininglugs 26 carried by the side walls of the front bucket section 24.

In any case, the lugs 26 are so spaced apart and of such length as tominimize the areas of overlap between the bucket sections so as tominimize the hazard of trapping large particles therebetween, while atthe same time maintaining the edges of the walls for movement in theirintended paths. Obviously, the length of the lugs 26 will be governed bythe amount of wear which might be expected upon the sections of thebucket tending to separate them in a longitudinal direction duringrepeated use. Of course, in the event the end edges of the bucketsections are actually spaced apart a small amount, the lugs 26 wouldnormally be just that much longer. Alternatively, in the event there isa slight overlap between these end edges, the lugs 26 may be just thatmuch shorter.

As will be appreciated from a comparison of the solid linerepresentation of the bucket sections in FIG. 2 and the representationthereof in FIG. 1, swinging of the bucket section 17 to the slightlyinclined scraping position will cause the lugs 26 to move in a pathclosely adjacent the outer rear portions of side walls 24A. Furtherswinging of the bucket section 17 to the inclined position shown inbroken lines in FIG. 2 will cause the lugs 26 to continue to move in a.path closely adjacent the mid-portions of the outer sides of walls 24A.

Preferably, the rear portions of the side walls of the front bucketsection 24 are bent outwardly, as indicated at 26a so that the rearedges of the side walls 24A are urged yieldalbly against the side walls17A in all positions of the bucket sections relative to one another.More particularly, this outwardly flared portion of each of the sidewalls 24A extends for substantially the full height thereof. Thispreferred construction is useful in containing earth in the bucketsections inasmuch as it takes up for wear tending to separate the bucketsections in a lateral direction upon repeated use. That is, theyieldable urging of the edges of this outwardly flared portion will takeup for inward movement of the side walls 24A and outward movement of theside walls 17A.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that this invention is one welladapted to attain all of the ends and objects hereinabove set forth,together with other advantages which are obvious and which are inherentto the apparatus.

The invention have been described, what is claimed is:

1. An earth moving scraper, comprising a frame and a bucket carried bythe frame, said bucket comprising a pair of sections having spacedapart, parallel side walls, and means for swinging said sectionsrelatively to one another and about an axis perpendicular to the sidewalls between a first position in which they are extended to containearth therein and a second position in which they are at least partiallytelescoped to dump the earth therefrom, the edges of the side walls atadjacent ends of the bucket sections being movable over and in a pathclosely adjacent the side walls of the other Ibucket section duringswinging of said sections to and from said second position, said edgesof the bucket sections being closely adjacent one another in the firstposition of the bucket sections, so as to minimize the hazard oftrapping particles therebetween, and parts spaced along the edge of atleast onebucket section overlapping with the edge of the other bucketsection on each side of the bucket, said parts occupying only arelatively small portion of the total length of said edges of the bucketsections with the area between said parts being vacant so as tosubstantially lessen the area between said sides in which particles canbe trapped, said parts serving to maintain said edges generally parallelfor movement in said path as the sections move into and out of saidfirst position, the edges of one of said bucket section being benttoward the other of said bucket sections to minimize the gap between thebucket sections.

2. An earth moving scraper, comprising a frame movalble forwardly overthe ground level, and a bucket carried by the frame, said bucketincluding a front section comprising longitudinally extending side wallsdefining an opening into the front end of the bucket, a rear sectioncomprising a bottom wall and longitudinally extending side wallsparallel to the side walls of the front section, and means for swingingthe rear section about a transverse axis with respect to the frontsection between a generally horizontal earth-containing position inwhich it forms a rearward extension of the front section and an inclineddumping position in which it is at least partially telescoped with theside walls of the front section, the front edges of the side walls ofthe rear section being generally parallel and closely adjacent the rearedges of the 6 side walls of the front section in said earth-containingposition, so as to minimize the hazard of trapping particlestherebetween, and being movable over and in a path closely adjacent theside walls of the other bucket section during swinging of said sectionsto and from said dumping position, and parts on at least one of saidparallel edges spaced lengthwise thereof and overlapping the other edgein the earthcontaining position of the bucket sections, said partsoccupying onlya relatively small portion of the total length of saidedges of the bucket sections with the area between said parts beingvacant so as to substantially lessen the area between said sides inwhich particles can be trapped, said parts serving to maintain saidedges for movement in said path as they move into and out of saidearth-containing position, the edges of one of said bucket sectionslbeing bent toward the other of said bucket sections to minimize the gapbetween the bucket sections.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,050,856 8/1936 Peterson 37-1262,064,023 12/1936 Maloon 37-126 2,159,045 5/1939 Paulson et a1. 37-1292,196,690 4/1940 Barrett 37-129 2,255,240 9/1941 Bird 37-126 2,400,7604/ 1946 Kusz 37-129 2,514,091 7/1950 Renaud 37-129 2,528,046 10/1950Engler 37-129 EDGAR S. BURR, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 37-126

